Three Raptors

We walked in Balblair Woods this morning, along the track that follows the north shore of Loch Fleet where the tide was rising across the mudflats. These were very short of birds, the only ones visible being....

....an oystercatcher, a curlew and a black-headed gull.

We checked the osprey nest but found it empty. It's early for their return - last year we were in April when we had the first sighting - but a passer-by told us that, although the Loch Fleet ospreys aren't yet back, ospreys elsewhere in the local area have just arrived. So, instead, we had to make do with a pair of buzzards which were calling to each other as they circled overhead.

We spent a few minutes in the bird hide overlooking the loch where we found rather more waders, including redshank, curlew and sanderling along with shelduck and widgeon, after which we stopped to watch....

....a rather ragged skein of pink-footed geese pass over.

We walked on as far as the first place where we can get down to the shore and sat on the bank watching nothing except a single curlew which flew slowly across the scene. I can't help wondering whether there shouldn't be so much more in the way of bird life around the loch and, if so, what has happened in recent years to make it so scanty.

Happily, as we arrived home a pair of red kites were there to greet us, circling over the forestry at the back of the house.